As I sit down to write this I don't actually have 10. Ten what you say? Well, the 10 top things I like about trail running,
First off, please notice that I said "running, although I don't actually run. While I have pretty well gotten over the senseless 'hope' that I will run again, there is still part of me that believes that it will come back, and even I think, come back with a passion.
And no I don't know when, but I'm confident enough to place a small wager that it will be sometime. We shall see,
Anyhooo....you may think that that attitude doesn't sound like that of a depressed person, and indeed, just as I type the words I'm thinking the same thing. hmmmm?
I'm not going any further with that thought for today. I think I'll just park it in a corner of my mind where I can haul it out tomorrow morning, and perhaps other mornings after that.
Speaking of mornings, there is no doubt that Frits the dog has a profound effect on mine. I think if I could manage to get up at sunrise and stay comatose just until him and I were out there somewhere, my life would be a whole lot better. I try to express my gratitude to Adrian but I don't think I really get it across well. No matter. Im grateful, and I know he's grateful for my support, so what else matters eh?
But! This is supposed to be a top ten so without further ado, here we go. The top ten reasons to go to the trails. Remember I don't have a top ten. I'm making them up as I go.
10) There are no cars there! No trucks, no buses and not a single cop, ambulance, or fire truck!
9) When it's cold outside, it's warmer in the trails.
8) When it's hot outside, it's cooler in the trails.
7) You meet new people, and new dogs, almost every day.
6) You will most likely never meet a cat! Nice :)
5) If you fall down it doesn't hurt too bad.
4) You can pee when you want (behind a tree), poop when you want(behind a bigger tree), hell you could probably even have sex out there if you kept an eye out. (The only recommendation I would make here is that you have someone to enjoy the sex with. While you will probably get into some trouble for boinking your honey out there, our society frowns much more on old men having sex by themselves in a public place. Strange eh? :)
3) You don't need, or in my case, even want to bring music. I have not though about carrying my iPod for months Don't even know where it is. I have no desire to block out the external sounds of the frogs, the birds, the brooks, etc. Very cool.
2) I think I can safely say that I have never come back from a trail run/jog/walk in worse spirits than when I left. I could not always say that about running on the pavement..
...and the number one reason I like to go to the trails is because I can wear these!
1)
I bought them several years ago and probably wore them 3 times. I hauled then out a few weeks ago and they have become my 'shoes' of choice. They feel like bare feet with traction. They are especially useful for crossing the creeks. You get a great feeling for the bottom, and you feel secure over the rocks. The best part is that they dry quickly, and they don't chafe even the slightest afterwards. They now have even more rugged ones, designed specifically for trail running so I may ask Roo for a pair of them. When's mothers day? :)
And I think that's it for today. I know I went a bit beyond the bare top ten model, but like I said up front, "I was winging the whole thing".
Lastly today a big shout out to my extra daughter Alisha. I am still so often surprised by the miracle of her.
...I like this one...
"We rarely think to mark the trail for others to follow. 'Live and learn,' we say, acknowledging the value of experience. We usually forget about 'Live and teach."---Marilyn Ferguson
Love
Peter
I think it's funny that if I had applied to go to university after high school they would have laughed at me. All they needed now was a copy of my birth certificate! Funny.
